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Content Marketing

5 Tactics for Maximizing the Results of Your Content Campaigns

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5 Tactics for Maximizing the Results of Your Content Campaigns

When it comes to content campaigns for your small business, online website investments, and overall content needs, there are a lot of bases to cover and perfect. This blog is all about helping you do that! So How Are We Going to Help You Maximize Content Campaigns? First, we’ll study different content products that go beyond your foundational web content and blog elements (these you should be doing by default – it shouldn’t take us to remind you!). We will also tie in some top tips from our copywriting brains on how you can create these products best and get the most results from them. 1. Whitepaper: The Future of Content Marketing As you approach your new content marketing strategies, you should consider using whitepapers for your marketing needs. What is a whitepaper? Glad you asked! Whitepapers are used to provide information to all your customers, both current and potential. It provides the reader with information and specifications of products instead of giving them the old razzle dazzle (“razzle dazzle ‘em”). It is professional and all about generating leads for your business, whereas blogs are for an informal, opinion based source about your product or company, Hubspot.com writes. Here are a few tips to consider when writing a whitepaper: Choose a topic people want to learn more about, especially one that is not overdone. By doing this, your company will stand out from the others, and you will find that you will gain more readers just by doing something different from the crowd. People like to read new and innovative topics, take advantage of that and make your topic something people cannot live without! Make sure you are writing knowledgeably, as well as passionately. You many not think a reader will know if you are not knowledgeable in the topic, but trust us when we say, they will. People are smart, and they catch on quick if you are not as well informed as you say. Readers will also know if you are not passionate about your topic because your tone will come across as impassioned and bored, so you absolutely want to stay away from any topic you find boring. One suggestion is to find someone else who may be passionate about your topic, or find someone who can write with passion regardless. Know Whom You Are Writing To. Make sure your topic meets your audience base. You do not want to write how awesome Pixar is if your audience base is committed to DreamWorks Studio! We kid, but you get the idea. You want to stay away from writing something that your audience will not find helpful and informational. Choose a topic close to your product or services. Be You.  It is wildly cliché, but seriously, be you when writing your whitepages. We understand gaining inspiration from fellow copywriters as we all gain our inspiration that way, but you need to make it your own. Add your own little tidbits or parallels in a professional, yet unique, manner. 2. Writing an Ebook for Customers Ebooks are another great resource to use when planning your content marketing strategy. Internet2Go estimates that about 103 million Americans have ereaders or tablets. That is a lot of potential customers! Sure, your business isn’t for that whole 103 million, but this shows how important an ebook for is your content strategy. Offering free ebooks is a great way to engage with clients. You can offer this as a free download when customers join your company or as a way to generate new leads. People love getting free stuff, no matter what it is, just take a lesson from Hollywood. When people went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, some theatres offered a free poster and most people took it because, why not? It was cool looking, but most importantly, it was free. We don’t need that poster, or pen, or key chain, but we will not say no to it either. People will say yes to a free ebook when it is offered. Writing an ebook can be very similar to writing other content, but here are some of our tips on ebook writing to get your brain juices moving: Stick with what you know. It is a pretty simple concept. The more you know about your chosen topic, the more people will believe you to be the authority in your field. Ebooks are the chance to discuss your product in-depth, leaving the specific topics for your blog! Read and Read Some More. When it comes to writing any book, you should always read other books, especially those similar to the one you are writing. It will provide you with inspiration. Do your research! Research is key to every single bit of content writing. If you do not research, your material will fall flat. When it comes time to publish, you can find many places that offer information and help regarding self-publishing and how to circulate your book. Since you are coming from the perspective of writing for your company, and not yourself, you can use tools such as Dropbox to provide an easy access point for customers. Make it into a PDF and have it ready for people to obtain. PDFs are the best way to make sure each tablet and ereader will support your ebook. 3. A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words and So Are Infographics! Who doesn’t love a good infographic? We all love those little shareable photos that provide a wealth of information, and usually are adorned with some adorable artwork or pictures. They give us the information we seek on the particular topic we are researching or find interesting. If you want to find out which book to read next, there is an infographic for that! It is much easier to look at an infographic quickly than to wade through a lot of type. Sure, we all love to read blog posts and articles about the topics or products we are interested in, but sometimes we … Read more

32 Insane Statistics of Content Marketing

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32 Insane Statistics of Content Marketing

Who here has not once been intimidated by at least one facet of today’s content marketing? If you haven’t, then you’re obviously an extremely knowledgeable, confident, and masterful guru of content marketing. If you have, then you’re absolutely not alone. Many of us have felt intimidation when staring down the barrel of the latest and great content marketing trend or shift. In some cases, the intimidation factor has been so strong that it has stopped us from jumping on board with a new trend. As a result, we lose out on prime opportunities. And sometimes we drop the ball. It happens to the best of us. Every year we see blogs and articles about the new trends in social media, content marketing, and search engine optimization. But when is the last time you saw a compilation of statistics all about content marketing?   Content Marketing Statistics That Will Blow Your Mind   In the past few years, content marketing has weathered some pretty dramatic changes. Many of us have watched trends rise and sink, sometimes wishing we’d jumped on board, and other times thanking our lucky stars that we didn’t. We’ve snooped around the Internet and found some eye-opening stats that might boggle or change your mind about content marketing: On an average, marketers spend over one fourth of their marketing budget on content marketing. (B2B Marketing Insider) 93 percent of marketers are using social media, yet only 9 percent of marketing companies have full-time bloggers. (Search Engine Journal) 78 percent of Internet users conduct product research online. Your website will likely be your potential customer’s first impression. Says HubSpot, “[This] means your new business card isn’t a business card—it’s Google.” (HubSpot) Companies that outsource are doing bigger projects, spending an average of more than $1 million lat 2013 with a 5.5% increase from 2012. (Adweek) Over 10 million Facebook “apps” exist. (Search Engine Journal) 61 percent of consumers claim to feel better about a company that delivers custom content. They are more likely to buy from such a company. (Custom Content Council) 78 percent of business people opt to use a mobile device to check email. (HubSpot) 80 percent of all Pinterest pins are actually re-pins. (Search Engine Journal) Interesting content is one of the top three reasons why people choose to follow a brand on social media. (Content+) Companies that opt to build a blog and post content regularly receive 55 percent more web traffic. (HubSpot) The 55 to 64 year age bracket is the fastest growing demographic on Twitter. It has grown by 79 percent since 2012. (Search Engine Land) The Facebook and Google+ 45 to 55-year age bracket demographic have grown by 46 and 59 percent, making it the fastest growing social media demographic. (Search Engine Journal) In as few as two years, the number of marketers who believe Facebook is “important” or “critical” to their business has increased by 83 percent. (HubSpot) The +1 button on Google+ is hit at least 5 billion times per day. (Search Engine Journal) Blog and social media websites reach 8 out of 10 U.S. Internet users and account for 23 percent of all time spent online. (Content Marketing Institute) Since debuting in 2010, Instagram has seen more than 16 billion photos uploaded, which equates to approximately 5 million photos being uploaded every day. (Search Engine Journal) Thanks to blogs, websites get 434 percent more indexed pages and 97 percent more indexed links. (Content+) 91 percent of mobile Internet access is for social media activities with approximately 73 percent of smartphone users accessing their networks via apps at least once per day. (Search Engine Journal) Inbound marketing costs about 62 percent less per lead than outbound, traditional marketing. (HubSpot) LinkedIn produces more leads for B2B companies thanks to Twitter, Facebook or blogs, individually. However, only 47 percent of B2B marketers say they actively use LinkedIn, versus 90 percent on Facebook. (Inside View) During every minute of every day, there are 684,478 pieces of content shared on Facebook; 3,600 new photos posted in Instagram; 2,083 check-ins made on Foursquare. (Search Engine Journal) 67 percent of B2C and 41 percent of B2B companies have acquired a customer via Facebook. (HubSpot) B2B companies that blog produce an average of 67 percent more leads per month than companies that choose not to. (Social Media B2B) YouTube has over 1 BILLION unique visitors per month, and managed to reach the desirable 18-34 demographic more than any other cable network. (Search Engine Journal) When deciding to make a purchase, 46 percent of web users will look toward social media. (Search Engine Journal) While in-store shopping for an item, approximately 40 percent of U.S. smartphone owners compare prices on their mobile device. (HubSpot) Ever wonder about the male versus female ratio of social media users? Facebook is 60 percent female, 40 percent male. Twitter is 60 percent female, 40 percent male. Pinterest is 79 percent female, 21 percent male. Google+ is 29 percent female, 71 percent male. LinkedIn is 55 percent female, 45 percent male. (Search Engine Journal) 57 percent of businesses acquire customers via their company blog. (HubSpot)   A Shocking Drop of the Ball   Based on the stats above, it’s no secret that blogs are important to content marketing. So when did you last update your blog? How often do you add new content to your blog? Be honest! Here’s an even better question: how important do you think blogging is for your company or brand on a scale of 1 to 10? Did your opinion change after reviewing the stats above? Well, here are a few more blog specific statistics that might shock you: 29.   According to HubSpot, 57 percent of companies gain new customers from their blog. 30.   61 percent of online consumers in the United States decide to make a purchase based on blog recommendations. (HubSpot) 31.   67 percent MORE leads are generated via B2B marketers’ blogs. (HubSpot) 32.   60 percent of consumers have a more … Read more

A Swedish Court Learns a Lesson About Hyperlink Copyrights (And We Learn 4 Important Lessons About Content)

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A Swedish Court Learns a Lesson About Hyperlink Copyrights (And We Learn 4 Important Lessons About Content)

Hyperlinks are easily one of the most important tools on the Internet. Linking to credible sites that back your site up may give your words a little more heft in the eyes of readers. Getting linked to by a legitimate website is a great way to get new viewers (and if that site is a business you look up to then you might get a little ego massage). For users hyperlinks are even more important. They are the basis of search engines. Without search engines the Internet simply comes to a halt. We’d even venture a guess and say that most of the people reading this right now found this blog post from a hyperlink, not by typing in the website. Not only are hyperlinks indisputably important, many people (users especially) consider them innocuous. Most people don’t even consider them as possible copyright infringements. “Wait, wait…” we hear some of you saying, “Did you just say hyperlinks are ‘possible copyright infringement’?” Yes we did. For those of you who haven’t heard, there have been cases going back to the late 90s about whether or not hyperlinking was considered copyright infringement and, depending on the type of use, some of them were ruled one way, some the other way.   There are Types of Hyperlinks? Indeed there are. It’s not just underlined text that you click on. The types of hyperlinks are defined largely by the things the users can’t see. Regular links, like this one that links back to our home page, has been protected repeatedly. Honestly, most of the time regular links do not come under question at all. Most of the disputes you’ll see in courts are regarding deep linking or inline linking. Deep linking links into the site somewhere. The main difference between the two (because neither search engine rankings or HTTP sees it as any different) is that it’s avoiding a lot of the site that you may not care about. Rather than forcing the user to go through the home page and search through the site, you can just link them directly to what they were searching for in the first place. It’s the difference between taking the subway from one building to another building versus driving through the city yourself. Inline linking is when you use an “<img src=” tag to link one page to another page. It can be useful for visual cues (as opposed to linking through a description) as well as image search engines. Copyright Laws and Linking   Deep Linking Deep linking is a huge deal to some businesses for a few reasons. One of the main qualms that companies have with deep linking is that it can bypass advertisers and some sites even consider it a trespass (as if you were breaking and entering into someone’s house). In Ticketmaster v. Microsoft a judge ruled that Microsoft’s site Tickets.com did not infringe upon any copyrights when deep linking into the Ticketmaster website and that bringing users to relevant content was more useful than harmful. On the other hand, in eBay v. Bidder’s Edge, Inc. it was argued that Bidder’s Edge’s (which is a weird possessive noun to type, by the way) deep linking to eBay was actually detrimental to eBay, according to Linuxinsider.com. Have you ever seen a celebrity get hounded by reporters and paparazzi after a scandal? They hop in the back of their car and it gets swarmed by photographers and microphones to the point where they have a hard time moving? That’s what Bidder’s Edge did to eBay, but with search bots instead of paparazzi. The court ruled that, in this case, the hyperlinks were actually a detriment to eBay and slowing them down. Just think, if they had used a captcha then the entire case may have been completely different. These two cases essentially set the precedent that hyperlinks could be used with impunity as long as it didn’t directly hurt the site (even if the link bypassed some possible advertising revenue).   Inline Linking There are a few cases related to inline linking, but the Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, end-all-be-all, case which all other inline linking cases will be brought back to is Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc. Contrary to the idea that the name of the case might give you, Amazon doesn’t matter in this discussion. What matters is another company that Perfect 10 was trying to sue in the same case: Google. The court ruled that Google’s inline linking to their images was not an infringement of hyperlinks copyright because a copy of the image was not made and stored on Google’s servers (whereas when Google does cache a page then sites have the right to have it removed by contacting Google). The court basically set the line where the FBI warning at the beginning of movies does. It’s fine to watch a DVD with a friend but it’s a crime to copy the DVD and give it to your friend.   The European Union’s Decision Recently the European Union decided on a case originating in Sweden regarding whether or not hyperlinks infringe on copyrights. This case is slightly different than any American case due to the way the laws work in the EU. In the EU the rights holders and producers have exclusive rights on how their works are made public. The case originated when a site called Retriever Sverige (an aggregator site like Google News or the Flipboard app) began linking to published articles on the Göteborgs-Posten website in a way that may have implied that the content was that of Retriever Sverige. This caused two questions to be raised: Does hyperlinking constitute communication with the public? Can a site link even if there may be confusion about who is providing the content? The EU ruled that hyperlinks can be used without permission and in any way that the linker desires without the permission of the linked site. The only exceptions to this rule was if either the … Read more

How to Improve Your Content Strategy by Learning from Your Competitors

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How to Improve Your Content Strategy by Learning from Your Competitors

Let’s say you are a small business on the road to formulating a great content strategy. There are numerous ways you can come up with great foundational points for a content strategy. Check out our video on content strategies and our blog on how to create a content strategy. But today, we’re here to talk about a niche topic – getting inspiration from your competitors. That’s right – the guys you might evil-eye the rest of the week as you pass their super-successful, vibrant and busy offices. This time, it’s time to put your feelings aside and see just what you can learn from others who are successful in your industry. 3 Ways to Determine Who Your Competitors Are How do you find your competitors? This is a very simple question, but an excellent starting point. 1. Internet Searches. Searching the Internet is a very good way to find out who your competitors are. It seems overly simple, but by using the keywords you would use for your own business, you will be able to find businesses that do similar things or sell similar products. This will be helpful as you create your 2014 content plan. By doing this search, you can see new ways your competitors are trying to sell a product or service. This can give you ideas on how to implement a similar strategy. Notice, we say similar, not exact! Do not steal their ideas out from under them. That is highly unprofessional and will give your company a rather negative reputation. Instead, brainstorm with your team members and decide new and unique ways to implement the ideas you found interesting in your own content strategy. Use What the Internet Gave You. Finding tools to help you keep up with your competitors will be useful as trends change rapidly. According to INC.com, GoogleAlerts is a great way to be notified about new updates on products or services relating to your company and can be used when tracking what your competitors are up to. INC.com also suggests GoogleTrends, which maps the current trends within your area all the way to incorporating trends worldwide. 2. Social Media is More Useful than You Realize. Social media is not only important when attempting to engage with clients or to reach out in order to bring in new clients; it can also be used to spy on your competitors. We all know how to do it. In fact, we have all done this in some fashion with different friends and relatives. Why not implement this when researching your competitors? You can keep track of what your competitors are up to by following their Twitter, Facebook, and various other social media sites. Seeing how they interact on a social media site can give your company ideas on how to interact with clients. Many businesses have yet to become socially savvy online, so do not follow blindly exactly what your competitor does on social media. The Internet is a whole different game from face-to-face interaction. If your competitor happens to have a successful social media presence, then start gleaning from the field of social media information they have provided when developing your content strategy. 3. We the People. Info Entrepreneurs states that distributing questionnaires and talking to customers will help you learn more about your competitors and will help you understand how they are able to keep customers or even how they chase customers away. When you learn of any negative transactions with customers, do your best to stay away from repeating the same action. A typical example of a negative transaction with customers would be customer service. Many places have customer service policies that they are meant to follow, but not all companies follow the policies. You know that customers are what keep your business going and growing, so by listening to their wants and needs you can build a successful 2014 content strategy that beats your competitors. 5 Ways to Learn Content Strategy Tips from Your Competitors Competitors can offer sage advice on how to formulate a 2014 content strategy. While they may not realize that they are helping you improve your company, they are, in fact, doing just that! Following a few of these tips can help you as you seek ways to learn from your competitors and implement your new ideas. 1. Their SEO Strategy. What keywords are they ranking for? We are not talking about copying and pasting their list of keywords (which they likely won’t take kindly to) – but what can you learn from their keywords and implement into your own? For example, do they use location keywords? If you are location specific, consider using your location in your website page meta tags and keywords. According to CopyPress, MOZ is a leading website that helps companies such as yours learn about your keywords and pulls in information that will help you create a better SEO strategy for your company. Using this tool for your company will end up being very beneficial and help you as you fight the good fight with your competitors. 2. Their Blogging and Content Strategy. Blogging is a major aspect of the Internet. Everyone loves to read updates on their friends, family members, and what their favorite business are doing. Blogs offer a great form of interaction with customers and potential clients, keeping them “in-the-know” and feeling included. When it comes to your competitors, look at their blog presence and see how they work with it. You will be able to learn and implement many helpful tips just by reading their blog! How do they blog? Look at the content they use in publications and see if there is anything you can gain from it. You never know, but by simply reading your competitors blog you may learn something new to you and be able to implement it in your 2014 content strategy. Do not be afraid to learn from your competitors. It helps your business grow, and they may even be learning … Read more

6 Ways to Convince Your Clients & People to Invest in Content Marketing

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6 Ways to Convince Your Clients & People to Invest in Content Marketing

Content marketing is an incredibly powerful tool that will yield a high return on the investment. Especially in today’s online era—and as long as it’s done properly and thoroughly. But, you cannot convince someone to use a strategy or sign up for your services if you cannot express the benefits of why (in other words, the benefits of content marketing). Showing the benefits, however, doesn’t mean spouting off a list of advantages. It is all about backing up your ideas with facts and presenting your sales pitch in a beautifully wrapped package. If delivered properly, your recipients will be ecstatic to start using content marketing by the end of the pitch. So, to help get those customers clawing at the doors to get access to your genius powers, we’re going to help you better understand those benefits and more importantly, show you how to demonstrate them. You can take the credit. It will be our little secret. First, Help Them Get Over The Assumption It Doesn’t Work Unfortunately, even in today’s internet age, there are still plenty of people that don’t embrace content marketing. The reason you aren’t getting traction with this group is likely because you don’t exploit the benefits of content marketing, and there’s plenty of them to use. KISSMetrics came out with an insightful blog that highlighted why content marketing strategies are failing. If you think content marketing isn’t worth it, or your clients are rejecting the idea, it is likely because they’re committing a deadly marketing sin of their own. We’ve also written a guest piece on SiteProNews with more on the subject. What are those sins? 4 Reasons Content Marketing Isn’t Working (So You Can Stop The It-Doesn’t-Work Argument In Its Tracks)  Before we go into the six major do’s (how to convince), let’s talk briefly about the don’ts, so you’re not unconsciously scaring anyone away. 1. You Don’t Have A Refined Strategy If you haphazardly threw something together and then prayed it would work, you’re going to be disappointed. Content marketing requires constant changes, innovations, and updates. If your strategy is even three months old, we recommend changing it up. You’d be surprised at the progress you will make by doing so. 2. You’re Not Putting In The Effort Again, content marketing requires work. It doesn’t self-automate here. If it did, we’d all be billionaires. In the content marketing world, you get what you pay for. So, if you don’t see any improvement, look to see where you’re spending your money and see if you can squeeze more out of the budget to put it toward content marketing. 3. Your Content Sucks, Sorry Bottom line, content marketing will never succeed when the content holds no ground. Your content needs to be on point, relevant, interesting to read, and worthwhile for today’s reader with the epically short attention span. 4. There Are Too Many Brand Inconsistencies A brand should be definitive. If you read one piece of content from a particular brand, it should have the same tone, flow, and style with every other piece out there. When everything appears disjointed, mismatched, and doesn’t meet up with the mission statement, it won’t be effective, according to Mike Templeman at Forbes. Now, Let’s Move On To The Good Okay, now that we’ve dispelled some of the reasons you think content marketing doesn’t work (or the reasons your clients assume it doesn’t work), now we’re going to dive right into why you need to use it. 6 Ways You Can Encourage Anyone To Use Content Marketing Sure, you need a compelling sales pitch. But, you can’t just say “content marketing works,” and expect the world to jump on board. Instead, you need to deliver a convincing pitch that makes it almost seem as though without content marketing, the internet world would fail. 1. Sites With Excellent Content Marketing Grow 7.8x Faster Content marketers are the leaders in site traffic. You could be one of those leaders. According to Aberdeen and mentioned by Neil Patel, each year, unique website traffic is 7.8x higher for content marketing leaders than followers. The team at Search Engine Journal is one you can reference. (I love them and write for them consistently.) They keep up with consistent, high-quality content (there’s that quality content reference again), and they are at the forefront of content marketing. Even better, they churn out over 900,000 unique visitors per month according to their LinkedIn profile. So, how could you implement this fact and amplify your content marketing strategy? Start working on high-quality blogs. We’re talking long-form, short-form, research and newsworthy reads. Be a leader that sets the standard for your field. Whether you’re blogging about peanut butter muffins or your love for coupons, you need to establish yourself as the authority in that area. Track what other leaders do in that industry, see what they write about, and learn from their examples. 2. Sharable, Great Content Is What Is Trending Content that people want to read is the cornerstone of a great content marketing strategy. After all, what is the point of churning out all that content if no one shares it? A great offering for content marketing managers would be creating shareable content and then actually sharing it on social media for their customers. This means sharing on brand-owned social media channels, sharing content at the right time on social media, linking up with other similar or competing brands, and providing valuable information that people will continue to share. According to Pew Research Center: 65 percent of adults now use social media networking sites. This was a ten-fold jump from last decade. So, if your websites aren’t going viral, you need a strategy to help them capture at least a handful of those millions of people engaging on social media. Here’s another fact to chew on: DemandMetric states that 78% of content marketers believe custom content is the future of marketing. It’s true. With everything trending online, you need content that is unique, custom and … Read more

Julia McCoy of Express Writers Interviews Jayson DeMers, CEO of AudienceBloom

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Julia McCoy of Express Writers Interviews Jayson DeMers, CEO of AudienceBloom

On February 14, I interviewed Jayson DeMers. He was unavailable via conference or video, so we utilized a live Google Doc (what awesome technology!). Jayson is the CEO of AudienceBloom.com, a content marketing & social media marketing agency, and has been in web and online marketing since 2010. I asked Jayson DeMers several questions centering around 2014 online content practices for him to answer, and he obligingly accommodated with very helpful answers.   Julia: Please tell us a little about yourself and what you do in regards to web content/Internet! How do you serve others with AudienceBloom, your company? You and I were starting out about the same time, if I’m right? (in 2010-2011) Jayson: Sure! I grew up in Seattle, WA, where I still live and run my business, AudienceBloom. AudienceBloom is a full-service content marketing, SEO, and social media agency. Personally, I love writing and publishing helpful, informational content and advice across publishers like Forbes, Entrepreneur.com, and Huffington Post. And yes, I started AudienceBloom in April of 2010, so you and I were starting out about the same time.   What Jayson DeMers Thinks About SEO & Content Post-Google Updates Julia: How do you think keyword optimization in content has changed since the Google updates (Panda, Penguin, etc)? Jayson: I think it’s all but dead now. Whereas keyword density used to be a popular term and metric used to decipher the SEO-optimization level of content, it’s now seen as a manipulative, antiquated practice and metric. These days, the only metric that matters is quality, and quality is measured by social shares, reads, and inbound links to the content.   Julia: What are other noticeable content changes have you encountered post-Google updates? Jayson: Really, it’s just about content quality and shareability now. Keywords, keyword density, and other long-obeyed SEO content metrics are a thing of the past. Great content that adds value, builds your brand, and establishes credibility and authority is all that matters now.   Julia: What do you feel about guest blogging today? We’ve all heard the buzz that Matt Cutts, leader of Google’s Webspam team, recently discounted it. Jayson: I’ve got an upcoming article in Search Engine Journal that outlines exactly how I feel, but in a nutshell, I still strongly endorse (and engage in) guest blogging. Not as a link building tactic (which is what Cutts warns against), but rather as a brand building, credibility building, authority building tactic that increases my audience and reach. Furthermore, guest blogging provides referral traffic which can convert very well. It’s a brand-building tactic rather than a link building tactic, and that’s what should be the focus in 2014.   Web Copy Trends in 2014, According to Jayson DeMers Julia: What do you think the trends are for web content in 2014? What should we be aware of (good practices) and what to avoid (bad practices)? Jayson: Most companies know by now that they need to produce and publish content, but what I’ve found is that their idea of the quantity of content is far less than what they actually need. Many people think that 3 blog posts per month is sufficient. But in reality, 1 per day should be the goal for a small business. Furthermore, content distribution is going to be key to running a successful content marketing strategy in 2014. After publishing content, it needs eyeballs, and that’s where many companies don’t know what to do. Distributing that content strategically to get the right audience’s eyeballs on it is going to be critical for staying ahead of the competition. Bad practices to avoid will be posting content that isn’t interesting or valuable to your audience, not posting enough content, and not engaging in an offsite content strategy.   Julia: Thanks for your time! 🙂 Jayson: You’re very welcome! Thanks to you as well.    

Short vs. Long Content: What’s Better For Rankings, Engagements & More (CASE STUDY)

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Short vs. Long Content: What's Better For Rankings, Engagements & More (CASE STUDY)

At Express Writers, we serve nearly a thousand international clients monthly by providing content pages that are 99% web-based (utilized on blogs, as landing pages, website articles, etc.). This means that we have to keep up on the latest and greatest know-how to provide our clients with the best, highest quality content possible—closely tied in to how well the content will perform on Google and search results. If you’re an Internet Marketer, you most likely know very well by now that the Internet is ever-changing, and Google’s guidelines for ranking web content have significantly re-formed in the past 12 to 24 months. Big names in algorithm updates were Google Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird. Since these algorithm updates, we’ve seen some solid trends favoring specific attributes of content that were previously overlooked in rankings. Specific attributes now being favored by the SERPs include: Long content is given preference above shorter content Less focus on keyword-optimization in the content and more of a real-world, researched, and reader-friendly oriented focus Well-formatted and visual-oriented blogs that get shared Let’s delve into the first attribute. Why and how, exactly, is longer content preferred and given a front row seat by the SERPs versus the previous standard of short, 1-page content? What Is Longer Content? Before we can successfully make an educated comparison of long versus short content, we need to fully comprehend just what long content is. Copyblogger first put a finger on it by writing a blog, “How to Write the In-Depth Articles that Google Loves,” in mid-2013. They called it “cornerstone content.” Cornerstone, or longer content, is the kind of content that is both thoughtful and in-depth. It is well researched and presents a battery of proven facts, much like an essay. Long content comes in different styles, strongly dependent on the company or brand creating the content. It is primarily conversational, educational, and informative. Some of the most SEO successful long content pieces range from 2,000 to 2,500 words, which is approximately a 5-page piece of writing. Let’s see what some experts think about long vs. short content. The Conundrum: Long vs. Short According to the Rank Correlation 2013 Study on ranking factors in 2013, published by SearchMetrics.com, “Content factors correlate almost entirely positively with good rankings and were apparently – when compared with the previous year – partially upgraded.” This fact proves that Google’s updates did indeed change, or upgrade, the system for ranking web content. A good percentage of ranking factors in 2013 went to quality content. According to SearchMetrics.com, the average number of words in the text was 576, which was up from 2012. The trend of rising word count in content has continued into 2014. A QuickSprout.com contributor, Neil Patel, decided to test out the new waters favoring long content. He swam to the newly popular deep end of the pool and created a test homepage of 1,292 words versus a second homepage of a mere 488 words. Both pages had a fill out form at the bottom. Although he initially thought the longer content would decrease his conversion rate, the results of his test were intriguing: The long content converted 7.6 percent better than the shorter. The leads resulting from the long content proved to be of better quality. The long content boosted conversions and SERPs. Patel concluded, through his research and case study, that longer content is indeed better for rankings, engagement and more versus short content. He also concluded that in 2014, content truly is king and if we’re wise, we’ll invest in the creation of well-written, authoritative, and engaging content. The Express Writer’s Long Content Case Study After identifying the trend to longer content and seeing what the experts had to say, we decided it was our turn to join the deep end of the pool. We put this trend to a wheel-grinding test just before Christmas 2013, by writing 2,000-word, highly researched, niche topic content blogs, and posting them on our blog. The results were phenomenal: Google loved our content and we gained significant keyword rankings that grew steadily. Screenshot of our rankings Dec 2013: Screenshot Jan 2014: The rankings were closely tied to the actual blogs we posted, for example this blog on how to deliver compelling content, that was ranking for the keyword web content writing tips: Lastly the Feb 2014 Rankings: How Can You Jump Into The Deep End? Now that the experts have waded into the deep end and shared proven results, the rest of us can jump right in. But how? Where’s the diving board? One of the most common questions we hear businesses asking is how do I write long content without overdoing it (being wordy, boring, etc.)? If you’ve asked this question, you’ve pinpointed the biggest obstacle to long content: HOW THE HECK do we come up it? Even Internet Marketers are asking this question. SearchEngineLand.com published eight means of creating what they refer to as long tail content for SEO. The article drives home the point that while SEO isn’t dying, it is evolving. You cannot create content merely for the sake of keyword searches and traffic. You have to “shift toward a more user-content-centric view of the world.” You can accomplish this feat and generate great long content by: Gathering your best people and brainstorming. You know whom we’re talking about. Those elite few within your fold who have a talent for brainstorming fresh, cutting-edge ideas. Pull these folks together and start brainstorming content ideas. Let creativity get a foothold, and then move to the research phase. Become familiar with the needs of your audience. Pinpoint the top 5 to 10 needs of your audience. Then, brainstorm topic ideas that allow you to cover each need and the solutions you offer in a lengthy, well-researched piece of content. When you delve deeply into the needs of your audience, you’d be amazed at how quickly you’ll compile pieces that exceed 2,000 or so words and need to be trimmed back or split into two … Read more

6 Online Content Marketing Predictions for 2014

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6 Online Content Marketing Predictions for 2014

2014 is here! We’ve all ushered in the New Year, some at small, intimate gatherings and others at large, happening parties. Now that the celebration is over and the hangovers are subsiding, it’s time to dig back into the hardy topics at hand. Content marketing predictions are one of the meatier online conversation topics. Social Media Today hit this topic square on the head by presenting a beautiful infographic depicting the digital marketing trends of the New Year. They boldly stated that “2014 will again transform the digital marketing landscape in the form of: content marketing, advertising, big data and mobile marketing.”   The Rise of a New Kind of Content Marketing   In truth, during the last two quarters of 2013, we saw an unprecedented transformation in the what, where, why, who and how of content marketing. To a large degree, the very definition of “content” underwent transformation from a keyword caterpillar to a content-rich butterfly. Reputable online sources have published hundreds of articles with 5, 10, 15, even upwards to 50 online content marketing predictions for 2014. While most of these prediction hold a certain amount of merit, which ones should you zero in on as we plunge into an exciting year of content-focused marketing? That’s what we’re here to discuss:   Prediction #1: Content Will Be Its Own Full Fledged Department According to a Mashable post on content marketing in 2014, CMOs and agency heads are already “looking to hire new roles with content in the title.” In the past, we’ve seen journalists enlisted to run editorials, but in 2014, we can expect to see Content Marketing Managers, Directors of Content, and Chief Content Officers. Their talents will be in high demand as content becomes its own significant department. The Moz Blog, a strong source of dependable predictions, says, “Resumes listing ‘content marketing’ will grow faster than either SEO or ‘social media marketing’ [resumes].” This is because the new motto of 2014 will be “less isn’t more.” Content in 2014 is the killer strategy for rankings, engagement, credibility, and authority. Here at Express Writers, we predicted in December that 2014 would be “the year of the Informer.” In essence, if your content isn’t informing, you won’t be ranking. Content needs to be your new priority, and here’s how you accomplish this: Plan content ahead of time. Don’t fall prey to the pitfall of “winging content.” Instead, take time to plan. Brainstorm topics and research their appeal to your target audience. Review the analytics of your website and see which pages are getting the most visits. Use the content of these pages to stimulate further content ideas. With a little planning, you can even repurpose old material—such as presentations and speeches—for articles, blog posts, press releases and social media. If you find your creative well running dry, join communities and subscribe to feeds in your niche to generate new ideas. Try to plan a daily—or at least weekly—release of new, engaging content. Keep content interesting. The average person spends about one minute on any given webpage. Your goal should be to make content impressionable and easily digestible in this timeframe. Keep paragraphs short and insert attention catching subheadings and lists. Include client reviews and success stories. Stay hip by referencing pop culture or current events; this can keep your content fresh and timely. Keep content relevant and fresh. You’ll miss the point of quality content completely if you don’t keep copy relevant and fresh. Relevant copy informs the reader how your product or service relates to their immediate needs and why they should choose you over the competition. If your content lacks relevancy, don’t expect potential customers to spend more than a minute skimming your page. They will quickly move on, giving their business to the competitor who provides relevant copy. Likewise, fresh copy is all about keeping the material fresh. You can do this by referencing current trends, new information or approaching the topic from a unique or new perspective. The last thing a potential customer wants is to read stale content. Search engine optimization still matters. Although we are trending away from keyword stuffing, optimizing your content by including keywords and keyword phrases is still important. Therefore, properly done keyword research should still be a priority for the content department. Create backlinks. Your content should be created with backlink opportunities in mind. Season the content with links back to your website, social media profiles, blog, or previous posts. This practice will help boost your search engine ranking. You can even comment on blogs, articles, and forums around the web with links back to a relevant post on your website. But, be sure your comment adds value; otherwise, you will risk being branded a spammer. Remember: linking is about adding value. Do not randomly link to credible sources just for the sake of linking, as this will detract from ranking. Links should add value by furthering the discussion. Use social channels. In 2014, social channels are going to work hand-in-hand with content. Your content department should be nurturing this relationship. Use social platforms to promote blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, press releases, whitepages, and any other content you release. You can even submit this type of promotion to discussion pages, groups, and communities that encourage it. Content marketing is going to tie in with every other avenue of online (and even offline) marketing in 2014. The Content Marketing Institute is an unrivaled source of content marketing predictions. In fact, they’ve been around longer than any other content marketing predictor on the planet, and they make it very clear in their “50 Predictions for 2014” that quality content is at the heart and soul of success in 2014. It will affect everything, from Google SERPs to sales conversions. If your content is weak, your entire marketing plan will likewise be weak. Moving forward, hiring a content professional or content agency will be in your best interests—even if they are only on-staff for consulting purposes.   Prediction #2: Mobile … Read more

20 Topic Ideas for a Steady Content Flow

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20 Topic Ideas for a Steady Content Flow

A lot of content marketers and bloggers have made a firm resolve to produce more content to increase their page ranking. Smart move! As a serious blogger, you know that every single blog post you churn out breathes life into your content marketing strategy. You take pleasure in turning a website into a watering hole for those who thirst for knowledge on a particular subject. Writing is no doubt the easiest part when it comes to content creation, but the real pickle is coming up with great ideas to keep the reader glued to each crafted sentence. Oh yes, it can be pretty difficult to keep coming up with exceptional content that readers cannot get enough of. Writing good content all the time will require you to be pretty creative.   How to Write Good Content? Put On Your Thinking Cap! Pretend that you are the head fashion designer for a fashion house that makes and sells great clothes and accessories. The challenge is getting your readers to feel the creativity, love, and sheer passion that you put into creating your fashionable pieces in less than 300 words. You do not want your content to read like a boring textbook – most readers cannot stand that! Let’s face it; this is America, where almost everyone owns a fashion line. How do you develop blog content that will help fashionistas and fashion conscious folks find your website and persuade them to purchase from you instead of the other fashion houses out there? This is the part where you simply turn to your creative super powers. Okay, let’s explore 20 topic ideas for a steady content flow for a fashion house’s blog content. Please take note that each topic idea can actually be recycled and applied to your specific niche to make your blog interesting to read and the go-to resource for valuable content.   1. Emphasize on Products’ Uniqueness You will need to master the art of focusing on the products you sell. One way of not running out of content to post is featuring your individual product pieces in separate blog posts, instead of re-writing the long list of shoes, earrings, gowns, shirts etc. in all your blog posts. You should pick an item and craft content about the item’s unique benefits. For instance, if the dress has a cut that makes the wearer look slimmer and appear taller, then by all means put it in the write-up! For some readers, wearing outfits that will make them appear slimmer and taller is the ideal purchase.   2. Tested and Trusted: Customer/Client Testimonials After posting content that clearly puts each of your products in the spotlight, next you can create complimentary content that contain customer/client testimonials about the product, and then link fresh posts to the older relevant posts. People love to read about products that have been tried, tested, and trusted by other people.   3. Reward Readers Create content to show your love and appreciation to your faithful readers by presenting them with great deals or giveaways. One of the best ways to get more people to subscribe to your blog or website is to use freebies or discount offers as bait.   4. Teach Them Create articles to teach your readers how to use your products effectively and get the very best results. For example, you can create blog posts that will teach readers the following: How to accessorize with a scarf, jewelry, earrings etc. What colors to avoid What colors are perfect for different skin tones How to dress up for a cocktail How to dress for the beach What not to wear at a certain age How to dress your age It is impossible to run out of content ideas when you educate your readers on the best way to use your products.   5. Ask the Experts Because you do not always have to talk about your products and business, you can search for ways to educate your target audiences. Ask professional models, make-up artists, and stylists to share their profound knowledge with your readers.   6. Help Them Answering your readers’ questions is one way you can help them. For example, provide an answer or answers to questions that you know some of your readers will be dying to ask you. You should always continue to provide helpful tips to readers. Tell them the best ways to achieve a personal look that will help them standout in a crowd.   7. Share Stories One of the great things about having celebrities in the world is being able to tell their stories to inspire, motivate, and even scare people into taking action. For example, you could create content around a fashionable famous person whose style has been copied over and over again. A really wonderful example of a fashion icon is Jackie Kennedy. She was known for her divine fashion sense. You could create an article on how to copy her style and make it your own using accessories from your fashion line. You could also share stories about celebrity fashion faux pas, and how to avoid it.   8. A Peek behind the Scenes You can tell readers stories about a day in the life of a fashion designer. You may not find this interesting to write but there are readers who will be interested in knowing what goes on in a company and what it is like to walk in your shoes. You can also include what practices sets your company apart from the competition and why people choose to purchase your products.   9. Use Captivating Images Tell a visual story with your products. This is especially important if you are in the fashion, sporting, or entertainment industry. Images give prospective customers an idea of what it is like to purchase your product. The pictures must be appealing to your target readers or consumers.   10. Share your Ideals You can use your blog to share your ideas with your readers. … Read more

A Lowdown on Content Marketing vs. Copywriting

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A Lowdown on Content Marketing vs. Copywriting

Content marketing and copywriting: what the heck is the difference? For anyone that’s not intimately involved in the world of online marketing, the two may seem totally interchangeable. The truth? The two are similar, and one can’t work without the other. But they’re two very, very different animals, each of which has its own intricacies and benefits. Read on to learn more. What is Content Marketing? Content marketing is a school of marketing that takes content (in the form of visuals, articles, textual content, videos, etc.) and uses it to market a product, brand, idea, or topic. Today, virtually all brands use content marketing, and virtually all customers interact with it on a near-daily basis, whether they know it or not. 60% of modern marketers create and distribute at least a single piece of content each day and, two years ago, 57% of marketers stated that the development of custom content was their top marketing priority. Since then, this number has only grown. Right now, brands are using content marketing in a myriad of ways, and the variety of the examples might surprise you. While many people believe that content marketing is simply the use of blog posts or infographics to gain consumer attention, it goes so much deeper than that. For example, content marketing is Rolex’s beautifully curated and photographed Pinterest page: Whole Foods’ informative and targeted blog: and Innocent Drinks’ hilarious Twitter feed: Content marketing is a critical marketing tactic, and it’s appearing across the web in the hands of various companies. Through the use of content marketing, brands everywhere are building their voices, setting themselves apart from the crowd with funny social media posts, high-quality images, and informative blogs, and developing unique, devoted, and loyal bases of customers who would not leave them come hell or high water. What is Copywriting? Copywriting is a piece of content marketing but it’s far from being the whole picture. Copywriting is the practice of actually writing online copy – the type that would appear in a product ad, a blog post, a white paper, an infographic, or a social media post. As the popularity of content marketing has risen with brands, so, too, has the popularity of copywriting services. Since copywriting is a critical piece of any brand’s online success, many companies currently hire out professional copywriting services to help them populate their websites, build out their blogs, and create the unique content that is later used in the big picture of content marketing. In addition to supplying websites and marketers with on-site content, copywriting also serves another important purpose: to boost a company’s visibility in the online environment. Through the help of good, high-quality, reputable, well-researched copywriting, brands can secure high Google rankings, help customers learn new information or solve problems, and appear prominently to people searching online for a certain product, good or service. In this way, good copywriting is a powerful SEO tool that is widely regarded as the single most effective way for modern brands to rank well without utilizing the spammy, black-hat SEO tactics of yesteryear. How Copywriting and Content Marketing Work Together Without content, there can be no content marketing. Because of this, content marketing and copywriting are closer than two peas in a pod. Even when people understand what content marketing is, few people truly understand how integral copywriting is in making it happen. While most people interact with ads, visuals, infographics, social media, and blogs (all of the trappings of content marketing) on a daily basis, few people realize that it is copywriting that makes this all possible. In most business settings, a company has a team of in-house or outsourced content writers. When the company needs a piece of content, be it a blog or a web page, they give the writers a set of details, a keyword or two, and then they turn them loose. In time, the writers craft a piece of online content that’s meant to appeal to both writers and search engines. Once it’s finished, the company takes it back and uses it to enhance and support their overall content marketing strategy. In many cases, the content that a writer produces will spearhead or support an entire chain of content marketing. For example, an idea that starts as a heavily researched, long-form blog post may become an infographic, a series of tweets, a SlideShare presentation, and a podcast. In this way, copywriting is largely responsible for giving birth to all of content marketing’s various facades and offshoots. Without good copywriting, there can be no good content marketing, and the ads, blogs, infographics, and social profiles that customers love all grow up from the marriage between these two things. Content Marketing & Copywriting: a Critical Partnership Without the help of copywriting, content marketing would not survive, and without the help of content marketing, copywriting wouldn’t be the major industry that it is today. A critical partnership that’s managed to bring value, relevance, and informative material to millions of people around the world, content marketing and copywriting team up to comprise the current face of marketing around the world. As humans get increasingly digital and we carry out more and more of our interactions online, it’s safe to say that the importance of content marketing and copywriting will only increase. What’s more, the product content marketing and copywriting combine to create will change. While there’s currently a push for more story-driven online content, we can expect to see this morph into the norm over the next few years. These change, combined with the increasing focus on user convenience and high-quality online material, will create an environment where all consumers around the world have access to relevant online material at the click of a button. So there you have it – while content marketing and copywriting aren’t the same thing, they do work together to create digital marketing as we know and love it today. In need of expert content marketing or copywriting for your brand? Check out our Content … Read more

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